AVATAR PLUS TEN!
by Kim Dreamcatcher
Summary: While traveling to Ba Sing Se, Aang and his friends meet a boy with a strange device on his wrist. Little do they know what this boy can do...CHAPTER 5 UP
1. Arrival

AVATAR PLUS TEN!

Author's Note: This is my third Avatar fanfic, and my second Avatar crossover, that I came up with. When it comes to Avatar, this story takes place after episode 11 of the Book of Earth, "The Desert." When it comes to Ben 10, this story takes place after episode 13 of season three, "The Visitor." Season three of "Ben 10" ended with Ben having a total of sixteen accessible alien forms on his Omnitrix, so I got plenty of choices to show off in this story. Sorry, but you're gonna have to read to find out which alien forms I use!

**Chapter One: Arrival**

It was a somewhat quiet night in the wilderness of Kansas. In the designated camping area, most people have already turned in for the night in their tents or RVs. In one campsite, however, one family was still wide awake.

Outside of his rusted, weatherworn RV, a tall overweight man in his sixties was sitting at a picnic table, working on a gray device shaped similar to a gun with light gray markings, only there was a large bulbous lens attached to the end of the barrel. The older man had short gray hair cut in a military style, with the lower half of his hair a lighter shade of gray, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt underneath a red short-sleeve shirt printed with large light orange flowers, dark blue pants, and brown boots. Also on the picnic table was a beat-up red metal toolbox with the name "Max Tennyson" printed on the front of it in antique gold letters.

As he opened a compartment on the device, exposing the inner wiring and circuits, the old man heard a loud racket coming from inside the RV. Almost immediately, the door to the RV swung wide open, and two young children, a boy and a girl both roughly eleven years of age, came running out.

The boy had thick shaggy brown hair and green eyes, and he was wearing a white T-shirt with black trim around the collar and cuffs and a black stripe down the middle, baggy army green cargo pants, white socks, and white sneakers with black soles and trim. In addition, the boy was wearing a device that looked like an oversized watch with a black wristband, white tubes, steel gray trim, and a slightly protruding dial with a black ring decorated with four green dots and a green-and-gray face shaped like an hourglass.

The girl had shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, and she was wearing a pale blue-purple long-sleeve shirt with blue sleeves ending just past her elbows, a blue collar, and a blue cat's head on the front; pale blue Capri pants; dark blue earring studs; a dark blue barrette that held a lock of her hair in place over the right side of her face; and white tennis shoes with blue stripes across the foot.

"Come on, Ben! Give it back!" the girl complained loudly as she tried to grab a laptop computer that the boy was holding above his head with both hands.

"What's the magic word, geek-face?" Ben mockingly asked the girl.

"Now, doofus!" the girl stated through clenched teeth.

"Come on, Gwen! You can do better than that!" Ben taunted the girl as he dangled the laptop in front of her face.

"Ben, give Gwen her laptop back," Max instructed, not even looking up from his work.

"You heard Grandpa, Ben. Now hand it over," Gwen pointed out as she took her laptop back.

"Geez, you're no fun!" Ben complained in a sulking tone as he approached their grandfather, who was still working on the device. "Whatcha doing, Grandpa?" he asked curiously as he looked over Max's shoulder to see what he was working on.

"Just doing some maintenance work," Max replied as he picked up a flat-tip screwdriver from his toolbox.

"On the Null Void Projector? What for?" Ben asked curiously. "We already sent Vilgax and Kevin to the Null Void for good."

"Don't forget, Ben, there are others out there that want the Omnitrix for themselves," Max stated as he took a moment to point at the contraption on his grandson's left wrist. "And who's to say that Vilgax and Kevin won't find a way out of the Null Void? And there's always the possibility that someone will release them both."

"That's all we need," Gwen commented. "It was hard enough putting them in the Null Void the first time. If they ever escape, I doubt they'll ever want to go back in there without a fight."

"Why don't you two get some rest?" Max suggested as he continued working on the Null Void Projector. "We need to make an early start if we want to beat the crowds at the Grasshopper Festival tomorrow."

"What exactly is this Grasshopper Festival about, Grandpa?" Gwen asked curiously.

"Don't tell me you plan on stocking up on grasshoppers for future meals!" Ben remarked, with both him and Gwen grimacing over the idea of having to eat grasshoppers.

Before Max could answer either of his grandchildren's questions, he was startled by the Null Void Projector making strange noises and convulsions.

"Grandpa, what's going on?" Gwen asked a bit uncertainly as she took a step back.

"I don't know, Gwen…but it can't be anything good!" Max replied rather calmly as he tried to grab the Null Void Projector. Before he could even get his hands on it, the Null Void Projector literally hopped off of the picnic table and started pulsating on the ground.

"Stay back, both of you!" Max cautioned his two grandkids when the Null Void Projector suddenly emitted a beam of violet light.

"That can't be good!" Ben commented when the beam of light formed a swirling violet vortex just a few yards away from them.

"Gee, you think!" Gwen retorted as the vortex started pulling everything towards it like a tornado.

"Quick, grab onto something!" Max instructed his grandkids as he braced himself behind the picnic table.

"Too late!" Ben gasped as he was lifted into the air and pulled towards the vortex.

"Ben! Hold on!" Gwen shouted as she attempted to grab Ben's arm, only to get herself in the same predicament as her cousin.

"AHH!" Ben and Gwen screamed simultaneously as the vortex pulled them closer.

"Ben! Gwen!" Max shouted as he helplessly watched his grandchildren get pulled into the vortex.

A look of determination swept across Max's face as he quickly grabbed a handful of various tools from his toolbox, including a compact weapon he kept in there from his Plumber days, and shoved them into his pockets. He then grabbed the Null Void Projector and managed to shut it off.

"I'll have to repair this later. Right now, I need to find Ben and Gwen," Max muttered to himself as he pocketed the Null Void Projector before jumping into the vortex just seconds before closing up…

"Whoa…what hit me?" Ben groaned softly as he brought a hand to his head. As he opened his eyes, Ben was startled to see that he was no longer in the campsite surrounded by forest, but in a seemingly endless desert.

"Where are we?" Ben asked aloud as he looked at the blanket of sand all around him. "One thing's for sure: we are definitely not in Kansas anymore! Right, guys?" When he got no response, Ben turned around and gasped when he saw that no one was there, that he was by himself.

"Grandpa? Gwen?" Ben shouted as he ran forward a few steps. "Where are they? I know they got pulled into the vortex, too. What is this place, anyway? It's definitely not the Null Void, that's for sure. I gotta find Grandpa and Gwen." A small smirk formed on Ben's face as he looked down at the Omnitrix on his wrist.

"I know a quicker way to find them!" Ben commented as he started to twist the Omnitrix dial around…


	2. A Strange New Friend

AVATAR PLUS TEN!

**Chapter Two: A Strange New Friend**

"We've been walking for days now! How much further is it to Ba Sing Se?" Toph complained loudly. She and her three companions, Aang, Katara, and Sokka, have been walking through a seemingly endless dense forest ever since they found their way out of the desert, with some help from the sandbenders.

"It's still a week by foot, more or less," Sokka replied. "Of course, we would get there much faster if we still had—" He was suddenly cut off by Katara giving him a quick jab in the ribs with her elbow.

"Sokka, will you stop that! Aang's still sad over the fact that Appa's gone," Katara whispered harshly to her older brother. "How can you be so insensitive?"

"It's okay, Katara, really," Aang replied as he looked back over his shoulder at Katara, Sokka, and Toph. "Come on, guys. The sooner we get to Ba Sing Se, the sooner we'll find Appa."

"Don't forget, Aang. We also need to tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse," Katara reminded the young airbender as the four friends entered a small clearing.

"I didn't forget, Katara," Aang replied a bit defensively.

"Wait a second, guys," Toph announced as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is it, Toph?" Sokka asked curiously as he, Katara, and Aang stopped as well.

"I can hear something…from up there," Toph explained as she pointed up at the sky. "Something big is flying towards us."

"Is it Appa?" Aang asked hopefully as he ran up to Toph, clearly excited over the possibility of being reunited with his sky bison sooner than expected.

"No, it's way too small to be Appa," Toph revealed, much to Aang's disappointment. "It's more like a bug…a big, ugly bug!" Just then, everyone heard a loud buzzing sound from somewhere overhead.

"Quick, hide!" Sokka whispered just loud enough for Katara, Aang, and Toph to overhear. The four friends quickly took cover behind separate trees as the buzzing sound came closer.

When the buzzing sound finally stopped, Aang carefully peeked out from behind his hiding place. He was shocked by the size of the bug, which was nearly twice the size of him. The large bug had a white body, a black head, two pairs of yellow-green eyestalks with solid orange eyeballs, two pairs of yellow-green spider-like legs, a pair of yellow-green arms with black three-digit claws, three black V-shaped stripes on the front of its thorax, a large black spade-shaped stinger at the end of its long tail, and a pair of long transparent pale yellow-green wings. When the bug turned around, Aang also noticed a strange symbol in the middle of the bug's forehead. He couldn't make out any details, but he noticed that it was a black circle with white and gray in the middle. The bug walked around a bit, as though it was looking for something or someone. After a short while, the bug took off to the skies.

"Did you see the size of that thing?" Sokka exclaimed in a loud whisper as he, Toph, Aang, and Katara cautiously came back into the clearing.

"Sure did. I'm gonna try and catch it," Aang announced as he leapt up into a nearby tree.

"Aang, don't! That bug looks dangerous!" Katara pleaded.

"I have to try, Katara," Aang replied as he paused to look down at the waterbender. "Besides, if I can find more bugs like that one, we can ride them and get to Ba Sing Se much quicker than on foot."

Before anyone could protest any further, Aang quickly jumped from tree to tree, eventually catching up to the strange-looking bug. Once he reached the treetops, Aang took one massive leap into the sky and landed on the bug's back.

"Huh? Hey, get off my back!" the bug complained in a raspy voice as he looked over his shoulder at Aang, who just stared back at him with a shocked, wide-eyed expression on his face and his mouth agape.

"Whoa! You can talk!" Aang exclaimed loudly.

"Uhh…so I can. Now, get off! I don't give free rides!" the bug told Aang.

"Wait! Can I ask you something, urhmm…what do I call you?" Aang asked a bit uncertainly.

"Call me Stinkfly!" the bug introduced himself.

"Okay…Stinkfly," Aang replied as he stifled a giggle. "Have you seen a sky bison around here at all?"

"Quick question: what's a sky bison?" Stinkfly asked curiously.

"Well, a sky bison is a really big flying bison covered in white fur," Aang described. "He has six legs, a big flat tail, and dark gray arrows on his head and all the way down his back."

"Sorry, haven't seen anything like that before," Stinkfly replied.

"Oh…I see…" Aang trailed off with a hint of sadness in his voice. Just then, Aang heard a strange beeping noise that appeared to be coming from Stinkfly.

"Uh…oh…" Stinkfly trailed off as his four eyes focused on the symbol on his forehead.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of red light, so bright that Aang was forced to shield his eyes. When Aang brought his arm down, he gasped when he saw that Stinkfly was no longer there. In Stinkfly's place was a boy around his age with brown hair and green eyes.

"Huh?" Aang gasped as he and the boy started to plummet to the ground below.

"Hurry! Change back into the Stinkfly!" Aang shouted to the boy, who was frantically messing around with something attached to his left wrist.

"I can't!" the boy shouted back, clearly scared and frightened over their predicament.

As the two boys continued falling, Aang quickly removed his staff from his back and spun it around, opening up the concealed glider wings and tail. Once he secured himself in place, Aang quickly steered the glider towards the falling boy.

"Grab onto my glider!" Aang instructed the boy, who complied without hesitation by grabbing the very end of Aang's glider with both hands. As carefully as he could, Aang eventually brought himself and the boy safely to the ground.

"Wow! That was so cool!" the boy exclaimed as Aang spun the glider around, returning it back to its original staff form.

"Umm…thanks…" Aang trailed off with a chuckle as Katara, Sokka, and Toph soon joined them.

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked as she approached Aang.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Aang confirmed.

"Hey, Aang, who's that?" Sokka asked curiously as he pointed at the brown-haired, green-eyed boy.

"And what happened to that big, ugly bug?" Toph added.

"Umm, he was the bug…I think," Aang replied a bit uncertainly as he pointed at the boy with his staff. "He called himself a Stinkfly."

"No way! That's not possible!" Sokka exclaimed quite doubtfully.

"It is so! I was Stinkfly!" the boy confirmed with a hint of pride in his voice as he stood up.

"Oh, really? Then, how did ya do it?" Toph asked dully.

"With this," the boy announced as he pointed to the black device on his left wrist, with steel gray trim and a circle colored with white, black, and red.

"Umm…what is it?" Toph asked curiously.

"I've never seen anything like it before!" Sokka commented as he took a closer look at the strange device.

"Don't tell me you never saw a watch before!" the boy asked out of disbelief.

"What's a watch?" Katara asked curiously. "Is that what that thing on your wrist is called?"

"No, it's not a watch," the boy replied.

"Okay, first thing's first: Who are you?" Sokka asked the boy.

"Name's Ben Tennyson," the boy introduced himself.

"Hi, Ben Tennyson! My name's Aang!" Aang introduced himself as he vigorously shook Ben's hand.

"N-n-nice t-t-to m-m-meet y-y-you, t-t-too…" Ben trailed off when Aang finally let go of his hand. "You can just call me Ben."

"Okay, Ben. These are my friends," Aang continued as he first turned to Katara. "This is Katara, and that's her brother Sokka, and this is Toph."

"Hey," Ben replied as he waved to Katara, Toph, and Sokka, who all nodded a greeting back.

"So…what do you call this thing?" Katara asked curiously.

"It's called an Omnitrix," Ben replied as he held up his left wrist so everyone could have a good look at the Omnitrix. "This is how I'm able to change into Stinkfly…among other things!"

"So, how does this, umm…Om-nee-trick work?" Sokka asked a bit uncertainly.

"You see…all you do is press this button," Ben started to explain as he pointed at the small red button under the black ring of his Omnitrix. "Then when the ring pops up, just twist it until you see the guy you wanna be. Slam it down, and BAMMO! You're one of sixteen super-cool alien dudes!"

"Alien…dudes?" Katara repeated. "What are…alien dudes?"

"Aliens are creatures from other planets, like Stinkfly," Ben explained.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Aang gasped in awe. "Can you change into something else right now?"

"Umm, not just yet," Ben reluctantly admitted as he pointed at the Omnitrix with its red face. "The Omnitrix needs some time to recharge. Whenever the Omnitrix turns red like this, I can't use it until the light turns green again."

"So, what are you doing out here all by yourself, Shrimpy?" Toph asked dryly.

"Well, you see…hey, wait a minute!" Ben complained loudly as he stepped forward to confront Toph. "Why are you, of all people, calling me Shrimpy for, anyway? I'm taller than you!"

"Still doesn't mean you're not short…Shrimpy!" Toph pointed out with a smirk. It was then that Ben first noticed Toph's eyes.

"How can you even tell? You're blind!" Ben remarked, causing an angry look on Toph's face. In response, Toph stomped the back of her heel hard against the ground, causing the earth to shake and rumble just enough for Ben to fall flat on his face.

"Whoa…how did you do that?" Ben asked curiously as he carefully got back to his feet, keeping a wary eye on Toph.

"I'm an earthbender! Duh!" Toph remarked.

"Earthbender?" Ben repeated with a confused look on his face. "What the heck's that?"

"You gotta be kidding me! Have you been living under a rock or something?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"No!" Ben replied defensively. "I'm starting to think I landed on another planet or something!"

"Now you think you're from another planet? This kid's crazy!" Toph retorted.

"Actually…I think he's telling the truth," Katara spoke up.

"Are you sure, Katara?" Sokka prodded curiously. "So far, everything that Ben's been saying sounds pretty bizarre!"

"Think about it, Sokka. The strange clothes, that thing on his wrist, and he's never heard of bending before…maybe he is from a different world!" Katara suggested.

"Wow! I never met someone from a different world before!" Aang exclaimed softly.

"Yeah, me neither!" Ben pointed out with a chuckle. "So, what's this bending stuff all about?"

"Well, our world's divided up into four nations: the Air Nomads, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation," Aang started. "Each nation has benders, who can bend their nation's element. I'm an airbender, Katara's a waterbender, and you probably figured out that Toph's an earthbender."

"Yeah, that was an obvious one," Ben muttered out loud as he made a face at Toph, who stuck her tongue out right back at him. "Hey, how'd you know that I did that?"

"Toph may be blind, but she can see through her earthbending," Katara explained.

"O…kay…" Ben trailed off, confused over how that could possibly work. "What about the Fire Nation? Do you have any friends from there, Aang?"

"Umm…not anymore…" Aang trailed off with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Why not?" Ben asked curiously.

"It's because of the war," Sokka announced. "The Fire Nation started a war with the other three nations that has been going on for a hundred years now."

"A hundred years?" Ben repeated in disbelief, his green eyes growing wide over hearing this news. "Is there any way to stop them?"

"Well, there's one person who can stop the Fire Nation, and that's the Avatar," Katara replied.

"What's an Avatar?" Ben asked curiously.

"The Avatar is the master of all four elements," Katara explained.

"So, any idea who this Avatar is?" Ben prodded.

"That's me!" Aang announced as he pointed at himself.

"You're the Avatar?" Ben gasped, which Aang nodded yes to. "That's great! You can stop the war!"

"Maybe not, Ben. I haven't mastered all the elements yet," Aang reluctantly admitted. "I started my training with Toph just a few weeks ago."

"We still have one chance to end this war: the solar eclipse," Sokka announced.

"What's so special about a solar eclipse, anyway?" Ben asked dully.

"It just so happens, Shrimpy, that firebenders lose their powers during the solar eclipse, and there's one coming up in a few months," Toph revealed.

"Will you stop calling me Shrimpy already!" Ben complained loudly.

"Just leave it alone, Ben. Toph has nicknames for all of us," Katara pointed out.

"Okay, fine," Ben reluctantly agreed. "So, what's your plan?"

"We're heading to the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se to tell the Earth King about the solar eclipse," Sokka explained. "He can organize his armies to attack the Fire Nation on the day of the eclipse and possibly end the war for good!"

"That's not the only reason we're going to Ba Sing Se," Aang interrupted. "We're also looking for Appa."

"Who's Appa?" Ben asked curiously. "Is he that sky bison you were telling me about when I was Stinkfly, Aang?"

"Sure is," Aang confirmed. "Appa was stolen from me when we were out in the desert. We caught up to the sandbenders that took him, but they said they already sold Appa to a merchant heading to Ba Sing Se."

"So, you think you'll find Appa in Ba Sing Se?" Ben prodded.

"I sure hope so…" Aang trailed off with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Hey, Shrimpy! You never answered my question!" Toph interrupted rudely. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I got separated from my grandpa, and my geek of a cousin, Gwen," Ben replied as he rolled his eyes while mentioning his cousin.

"You know, Ben, Ba Sing Se happens to be the closest city around here," Katara interjected. "Maybe you'll find your family there."

"Hey! Since we're all going to the same place, why don't we travel together?" Aang suggested.

"Really? I can go with you guys?" Ben asked curiously. "But…I just met you."

"Even with that Omna…whatever, you shouldn't be traveling by yourself, Ben," Sokka pointed out, with both Aang and Katara nodding their heads in agreement.

"All right!" Ben cheered enthusiastically.

"Just great…" Toph murmured dully with a forced grin on her face…


	3. Lies and Deception

AVATAR PLUS TEN!

**Chapter Three: Lies and Deception**

"Hello! Grandpa! Ben!" Gwen called out as she continued walking through the forest she found herself in when she woke up.

"Can anyone hear me?" Gwen shouted as she pushed yet another low-hanging branch out of her way. "This is so not how I wanted to spend my summer vacation!" Just then, Gwen felt the earth beneath her feet trembling just enough for her to feel it throughout her body.

"Oh, no! An earthquake!" Gwen exclaimed as she ducked underneath some bushes for cover. After a while, a distant rumbling sound soon reached Gwen's ears.

"Wait a minute…that can't be an earthquake…" Gwen trailed off softly as she crawled out from underneath the bushes. "It sounds more like a truck going by or something. Maybe there's a road nearby I can follow to the next town!"

Eager to find out if her theory's right, Gwen ran off to track down the source of the strange rumbling noise. As the noise grew louder, Gwen quickened her pace so she could catch up to the source.

"Huh?" Gwen gasped when she finally reached the edge of the forest, which continued into a stretch of desert. "What is that thing?" she asked herself when she noticed a black tube-shaped form heading towards her, which was the source of the rumbling sound and the ground shaking. As the black tube came closer, Gwen could make out more details of the strange-looking device.

"Is that a…a giant drill? What's a giant drill doing in the middle of the desert?" Gwen wondered aloud as she ducked behind a tree. "There's nothing around for miles!"

As the drill came to a grinding halt, Gwen noticed three strange creatures coming from the opposite direction. As they came closer, Gwen noticed that the creatures were large dark green lizards that were at least fifteen feet long, with bright yellow eyes, crests on their heads and backs with a light green striped pattern, and four squatty clawed legs. Although she couldn't make out any features, Gwen saw that each lizard was occupied by a female rider.

"Looks like someone was expecting them," Gwen commented as a large panel dropped down from the side of the drill and a man with gray hair tied up in a topknot and a pointed gray beard emerged from the opening…

"Princess Azula, we are most honored to have you and your two young colleagues join us," War Minister Ching openly admitted as Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai dismounted from their mongoose dragons.

"Thank you, War Minister Ching, for having us," Azula replied.

"It is my pleasure, your highness," War Minister Ching replied as he bowed respectively to the Fire Nation princess. Once he stood back up, War Minister Ching clapped his hands twice. Almost immediately, three soldiers disembarked from the drill and joined them.

"Bring the steeds to the stable below deck," War Minister Ching ordered the three soldiers.

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied simultaneously as they each took one of the mongoose dragon's reins and led them to the drill's ramp.

"In a few short days, we'll be making history when this mechanical drill penetrates the walls of Ba Sing Se," War Minister Ching boasted as he led the girls aboard the drill.

Before Mai reached the opening, she heard a twig snap. She quickly snapped her head towards the forest, where she spotted a girl peeking out from behind a tree.

"Mai, what's taking you so long?" Ty Lee complained teasingly as she looked back at Mai, along with Azula.

"Trouble," Mai simply stated before she ran down the ramp. Ty Lee and Azula exchanged a quick glance before chasing after their friend, who was making a beeline for the forest…

"Okay! Something tells me I wasn't supposed to see that!" Gwen gasped out loud when she saw one of the girls running straight towards her, with the two other girls not far behind.

Not knowing what these girls were capable of, Gwen decided to make a run for it rather than stay and fight. Unfortunately for her, the one girl quickly caught up to Gwen, who had long black hair tied back into a bun with two long locks framing her face, straight bangs, and an emotionless expression on her face.

"Ahh!" Gwen gasped as she stopped short when a metal dagger became embedded in a tree trunk, just inches away from hitting her. She quickly did a backwards flip in the air to avoid another dagger thrown at her by the black-haired girl.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those things!" Gwen complained after landing back on her feet.

"You should be more concerned about yourself!" the girl stated sternly as she raised both hands and fired arrows from mechanical weapon holders strapped to her wrists.

"Ahh!" Gwen screamed as she did a flying somersault, barely avoiding most of the arrows. Unfortunately, one arrow pierced right through Gwen's left sleeve as she got back up, pinning her to a tall tree stump. A slight smirk appeared on the black-haired girl's face as she fired around round of arrows at Gwen.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Gwen remarked under her breath as she took out her spell book with her free hand and quickly flipped through it with her thumb until she found what she was looking for.

"Sinnyu…Invisibis!"

In response to the spell she read, Gwen's hands glowed with a sky blue light as she brought up a large slab of rock from the ground, shielding her from the incoming arrows.

"I was right about her!" the girl gasped softly as the now glowing slab of rock was flung in her direction. She quickly laid flat on the ground, barely avoiding the rock slab by mere inches.

"Mai, you okay?" another girl's voice asked aloud. Gwen looked up and noticed two more girls running down to join the girl named Mai.

The girl who called Mai by name had long sandy brown hair pulled back into a long braided ponytail on top of her head, swooping bangs, big brown eyes, and was dressed in pink clothes and slippers. The other girl had black hair pulled up into a bun with a red ornate hairpiece shaped like a flame tucked into the bun, amber eyes, and was dressed in black clothes and armor.

"Barely," Mai grumbled under her breath as she got back up to her feet.

"Why did you attack me, anyway? I didn't do anything!" Gwen demanded as she managed to remove the arrow from the tree trunk.

"Then why were you spying on us?" Mai accused Gwen.

"Spying? I was doing no such thing!" Gwen firmly denied.

"I find it hard to believe that such a young girl would be working as a spy at all," the black-haired girl commented.

"She has to be a spy, Azula," Mai pointed out. "She was hiding in the bushes, watching us. Besides, she used earthbending on me. You both saw her do it."

"Yeah, but…I never saw such a pretty blue light come from an earthbender before," the lighter-haired girl quipped. "And the rock she threw at you had that pretty blue light, too."

"That could have been a new trick they picked up, Ty Lee," Mai stated. "Just like how our military is coming up with new weapons to assist us in the war."

"Earthbending? War?" Gwen repeated. "What are you three talking about?" Upon saying that, the three girls looked at Gwen with surprised looks on all of their faces.

"You mean you don't know about the war?" Ty Lee asked curiously, clearly puzzled over why Gwen was unaware of the ongoing war.

"No…" Gwen trailed off. "I'm not exactly from around here. Let's just leave it at that."

"Hmm…" Azula murmured under her breath, arching an eyebrow slightly as a plan formulated in her head as to how she could take advantage of this strange girl's naivety.

"I say we take her prisoner. She's clearly trying to confuse us," Mai pointed out as she stepped towards Gwen.

"Stay back, Mai. Let me handle this," Azula announced, much to Mai's surprise. Mai reluctantly stepped back as Azula approached Gwen.

"First of all…I must apologize for my friend's behavior," Azula started in a sincere and friendly tone. "As she mentioned before, she suspected you of being a spy for the Earth Kingdom."

"It's okay. I mean, everyone makes mistakes, right?" Gwen replied.

"Exactly. So, what's your name?" Azula asked curiously.

"Gwen Tennyson," Gwen introduced herself.

"It's a pleasure, Gwen. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and these are my two closest friends, Ty Lee and Mai," Azula introduced herself and her two friends.

"Wow! You're really a princess?" Gwen asked in an awestruck tone, which Azula nodded yes to. "This is amazing! I never met a princess before, Azula…I mean, Princess Azula."

"It's quite all right," Azula replied.

"So…what's this war all about?" Gwen prodded.

"You see, our world is divided into four nations based on the elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air," Azula started to explain. "Each nation has what they call benders, who have the ability to bend their nation's element."

"Oh, so that's why Mai thought I was an earthbender!" Gwen released. "Because of that spell I used, she automatically assumed I was with the Earth Kingdom."

"You're very astute for such a young girl, Gwen," Azula commented. "Currently, our nations have been at war for nearly a hundred years now."

"A hundred years?" Gwen repeated.

"Mmm-hmm," Azula confirmed with a nod as she bowed her head slightly, as though she were attempting to stop herself from crying. "It's been terrible. The dreaded Earth Kingdom started this horrible war, which has been continued from generation to generation throughout their royal family. Their greedy Earth King will never end this until he rules over all the nations, no matter the cost!"

"Wow, Azula's a good actress!" Ty Lee whispered softly to Mai so Gwen couldn't overhear them. "Maybe she should have joined me in the circus!"

"However, we have devised a plan that cannot fail," Azula continued explaining to Gwen. "You see, not far from here is the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. Our armies have attempted to invade Ba Sing Se many times before, but unfortunately, they couldn't penetrate the city's thick stone walls."

"Oh, I see where you're going with this, Princess Azula," Gwen realized as she looked over at the drill. "You're gonna use that giant drill to get into Ba Sing Se and capture the Earth King, right?"

"That's exactly the plan, Gwen," Azula confirmed. "Once we capture the Earth King and have him surrender, we can finally bring this hundred-year-old war to an end. You know, we could certainly use someone with your unique talents to aid us in our mission. Will you help us, Gwen?"

"I don't know…" Gwen trailed off hesitantly. "I have to go find my grandpa and cousin. I got separated from them."

"There is the possibility that the Earth Kingdom soldiers have taken them as prisoners," Azula suggested.

"Really? Are you sure?" Gwen asked worriedly.

"If your grandfather and cousin were found by Earth Kingdom soldiers, and they have no proof they're from the Earth Kingdom, the earthbenders won't hesitate to take them to Ba Sing Se as prisoners of war," Azula explained. "And it is the closest Earth Kingdom city around. So, what do you say, Gwen? Will you join us?"

"Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come with you," Gwen eventually agreed. "After all, it would be helping your cause to end this war peacefully without any more bloodshed."

"Exactly," Azula stated with a pleased smile on her face. "Come with us, Gwen. We should get going now."

"Okay, Princess Azula," Gwen agreed as she followed Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee to the drill in the distance.

"Are you sure about this, Azula?" Mai whispered as she walked alongside Azula, while Gwen and Ty Lee trailed behind. "What if she finds out that almost everything you told her was a lie?"

"Relax, Mai. If it comes down to that, I'll take care of it," Azula reassured Mai.

"Umm…why are you staring at me like that?" Gwen questioned Ty Lee, who was just staring at her.

"I like the color of your hair, Gwen. It's so pretty!" Ty Lee commented with a wide grin.

"Thanks…Ty Lee, right?" Gwen asked, which Ty Lee confirmed with a quick nod.

"I saw those moves you did when Mai attacked you," Ty Lee admitted. "You're really good, but can you do this?" Gwen was a bit surprised when Ty Lee suddenly performed a walking handstand on the hot desert sand, with her legs perfectly straight and rigid.

"Yeah, I can do that," Gwen replied as she pulled off a walking handstand as well.

"Were you in a circus at all?" Ty Lee asked curiously as she and Gwen both returned back to their feet.

"No, afraid not. I just took gymnastics class," Gwen revealed. "Why, were you in a circus, Ty Lee?"

"Yes, I was for a few years. Actually, I first joined the circus when I was around your age, Gwen," Ty Lee admitted as the four girls reached the drill…


	4. A Helpful Stranger

AVATAR PLUS TEN!

**Chapter Four: A Helpful Stranger**

"Ben! Gwen! Where are you two?" Max called out as he pushed yet another low-hanging branch out of his way. When Max woke up just a couple of hours ago, he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings that he knew wasn't the Kansas wilderness, with the Rust Bucket gone and his grandkids nowhere in sight.

"Hopefully, they're somewhere nearby…" Max muttered to himself as he continued trekking through the thick brush.

Just when he thought he would never find his way out, Max spotted a clear strip ahead with a dirt path running through it. As he came closer to the path, Max spotted two figures walking down the path: a young man in his teens with a burn scar over his left eye and an older man with a rather large gut.

"How much longer is it to Ba Sing Se, uncle?" the younger man questioned his older companion.

"It should not be much further, my nephew," the older man responded. "In one more day, we should reach the Full Moon Bay, and the ferries will take us across the lake to Ba Sing Se. Our worries are over."

"Hmm…those two seem to know the area better than I do," Max muttered thoughtfully as he got a closer look at the two. "That's strange…their clothes look Oriental in style. And they also seem old-world, as though they're from another time. Could it be possible…?"

Max's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a skinny, dirty man in severely worn out clothes and sandals coming from the forest on the opposite side of the trail, a sly smirk appearing across his scruffy face as he stepped onto the trail and made a beeline towards the older man and his nephew.

"This could be trouble," Max realized as he carefully watched from his hiding place…

"Hmm!" Iroh mumbled sharply under his breath when he noticed the suspicious unkempt man walking towards him and Zuko. "Watch yourself, Prince Zuko. This man may pose a threat," he whispered just loud enough for his nephew to hear.

Zuko nodded slightly as the man approached them. A wide grin spread on his face, a mouthful of rotted and missing teeth, as he whipped out a hunting knife.

"All right, you two! Fork over your money and no one gets hurt!" the man demanded.

Zuko scoffed slightly as he stepped forward, much to Iroh's astonishment. "I'm not intimidated by the likes of you," he stated simply.

The thief appeared a bit stunned at first by Zuko's attitude towards him, but he quickly shook it off. "It's too bad, then. Looks like the old man here will be the only one at your funeral!"

The man spun his hunting knife around in his hand before aiming for Zuko's chest. Before he could even reach Zuko, the bandit abruptly stopped in his tracks with a strange look on his face and collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Huh?" Zuko and Iroh both muttered out of surprise as they leaned over the man to try to figure out what happened to him. Lying next to his head was a strange-looking metal object shaped like a bar with odd-looking horseshoe shapes on either end.

"What do you suppose this is, uncle?" Zuko asked curiously as he picked up the shiny metal object, which was lighter than he originally anticipated.

"It looks like a tool of some kind," Iroh speculated as Zuko handed him the metal object for him to look over.

"You would be right on that one!"

Suspicious at first, Zuko and Iroh snapped their attention towards the trees near them on the trail as a tall, heavyset man with gray hair climbed out from the woods and joined them.

"Sorry if I startled you two. At least I got a clean shot at that thief there," the older man commented.

"So, you did this?" Zuko asked curiously, which the older man nodded yes to.

"Then I take it this is yours?" Iroh inquired as he handed the metal tool to the older man.

"Yeah, my wrench, thanks. We might want to get moving before this lowlife wakes up," the older man suggested as he placed the metal tool in his pocket.

"Ah, a wise decision," Iroh agreed as the three men headed down the trail at a quick pace, at least until they lost sight of the unconscious thief.

"I must thank you for saving my nephew, sir. We are both in your debt," Iroh graciously admitted to their new traveling companion.

"It was no trouble at all. I'm Max Tennyson, by the way," the older man introduced himself.

"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Max. I am Moshi, and this is my nephew, Lee," Iroh introduced himself and Zuko, using the aliases they came up with some time ago.

"Are you some sort of…machinist, Max?" Zuko asked curiously.

"Yeah, you could say that," Max replied. "So…where are you two heading?"

"Ba Sing Se," Zuko simply stated.

"It's the capital of the Earth Kingdom and the safest place to go in these times of war," Iroh added.

"War?" Max repeated. "There's a war going on?"

"How could you not know about the war?" Zuko asked a bit suspiciously. "It's only been going on for the past hundred years!"

"I'm…not exactly from these parts, Lee. It'd be best to leave it at that," Max revealed. "Listen, I should get going. I need to find Ben and Gwen."

"And who are they, Max? Your children?" Iroh inquired.

"Actually, they're my grandkids. Moshi, you and Lee must have been traveling for some time. You wouldn't happen to remember seeing two kids running around recently, have you?" Max asked curiously.

"We've seen quite a few children during our travels. What do your grandchildren look like?" Iroh asked curiously.

"Well, Ben is a boy with brown hair and green eyes, and Gwen is a girl with red hair and green eyes," Max described. "They're both eleven years old."

"I've seen plenty of young boys with brown hair and green eyes. That is most common in the Earth Kingdom. But I don't ever recall ever seeing a girl with red hair before," Iroh muttered thoughtfully as he stroked his beard in deep thought. "That would be an unusual hair color, so a girl with that color hair would certainly stand out in one's mind."

"I see…" Max muttered in a disheartened tone. "Is this city close by, this Ba Sing Se you mentioned before?"

"It's only a day's walk away," Iroh revealed. "There's a massive lake to cross before reaching the city, but the people of Ba Sing Se provide safe passage by ferry. It's the closest city around these parts, and the largest as well."

"Hmm…Ben and Gwen would try to head to the closest city around…would you mind if I joined you?" Max inquired curiously.

"No, of course not, Max. We wouldn't mind the company, and we owe you for helping us out back there," Iroh openly admitted with a grin…

--

**DC:** Sorry about this chapter being so short, but don't worry. The other chapters will be much longer, I promise you!


	5. The Serpent's Pass

AVATAR PLUS TEN!

**Chapter Five: The Serpent's Pass**

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, which is not unexpected during the springtime. Aang and his friends were relaxing inside a box canyon, which contained a deep pool with a cascading waterfall. Sokka was sitting on a large rock, studying a map he obtained from the library of Won Shi Tong, with Momo watching from his perch on Sokka's shoulder. Toph was at the pool's edge, splashing her feet in the shallow water, while Aang was swimming on his back, wearing nothing but his briefs. Aang soon encased his body, with the exception of his head, into a large block of ice, allowing himself to float along with the gentle current.

"Waterbending bomb! Yeah!" Katara shouted at the top of her lungs as she jumped off the highest edge of the canyon down to the pool below, dressed in her white waterbending outfit with her long brown hair free from its braid.

As she tumbled down to the water below, Katara tucked her knees against her chest before hitting the water, sending up a massive column of water that was so strong, it washed Aang ashore, breaking his ice block in the process, and drenched everyone. Aang and Toph laughed out loud with delight, while Sokka held out the dripping wet map in front of him with an annoyed look on his face.

"Sure, five-thousand-year-old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on 'em!" Sokka retorted dryly as Katara emerged from the pool.

"Sorry," Katara apologized as she wrung the excess water from her hair. She then used a waterbending technique to pull the water from the map that Sokka was holding up. Once she was finished, Katara looked back up at the spot she had jumped from.

"Come on, Ben! I thought you were jumping in after me!" Katara shouted up to Ben, who was now standing on top of the cliff.

"In a minute!" Ben shouted back as he turned the dial on the Omnitrix until he finally slammed it down.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka noticed the brief glow of green light at the cliff's edge before a tall fish creature appeared in Ben's place. The creature was covered in pale gray scales from head to toe, with big dusty rose eyes, a forest green esca with a soft glowing knob at the end of it protruding from the middle of his forehead, gills on either side of his thick neck, a large mouth full of sharp ivory teeth, four-digit webbed hands with forest green webbing and ivory claws, two-digit webbed feet with ivory claws, a long loincloth composed of black scales with four thin yellow V-shaped stripes, a long forest green dorsal fin, and forest green fins on the back of his forearms. In addition, the fish creature had a large black shoulder pad on his left shoulder with the Omnitrix symbol on it.

"RIPJAWS CANNONBALL!" the fish creature shouted in a deep raspy voice as he dove off of the cliff's edge, tucking his legs in with his arms wrapped tightly around them before hitting the water with a huge splash that was just as big as Katara's, if not bigger.

"BEN!" Sokka shouted angrily as he became thoroughly drenched yet again.

"Sorry, my bad," Ripjaws apologized after coming back up to the pool's surface.

Sokka just stared at Ripjaws with a sour look on his face as Katara used her waterbending to draw the water out of the map for a second time.

"So, did you figure out what route we're gonna take?‌" Aang asked curiously as he, Toph, and Ripjaws joined Sokka and Katara.

"Okay…" Sokka started as he pointed at a blue lake with a dashing line encasing it. "We just got out of the desert, so we must be around here, and we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here," he continued as his finger pointed out a series of yellow circular marks, which represented their final destination on the map.

"It looks like the only passage connecting the South to the North is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass," Sokka finished as he then pointed at a thin sliver of green with two blue lakes on either side leading to Ba Sing Se.

"You're sure that's the best way to go‌?" Toph asked a bit skeptically.

"It's the only way. I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there," Sokka pointed out.

"Shush up about Appa," Katara whispered harshly. "Can't you at least try to be sensitive‌?"

Sokka and Katara glanced up at Aang, who was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees against his chest, with his eyes closed and a sad expression on his face.

"Katara, it's okay," Aang stated rather calmly as he opened his eyes. "I know I was upset about losing Appa before, but I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse."

Both Sokka and Katara had surprised looks on their faces over Aang's sudden composure over the loss of his beloved sky bison.

"Oh, well, okay. I'm glad you're doing better," Katara replied.

"And what about Fish Boy here?" Toph asked nonchalantly as she jerked her thumb back at Ripjaws.

"The name's Ripjaws, Toph, and I can swim across the lake, no problem," Ripjaws admitted a bit boastfully as he crossed his scaly arms in front of his chest. "I'll probably beat everyone there!"

"You seem pretty confident in yourself, Fish Boy!" Toph remarked.

"Watch it, Toph!" Ripjaws grumbled angrily as he got into Toph's face. "I could easily eat you in one bite! Then again, eating someone as sour and bitter as you would make me sick to my stomach!"

"Cool it, you two!" Katara tried to calm down Toph and Ripjaws.

"Then to Ba Sing Se we go, no more distractions," Sokka commented as he rolled up the map.

Just then, Toph suddenly snapped her head up, as though she sensed something. "There's someone coming! You might want to hide, Fish Boy!" she revealed as she returned her attention to Ripjaws, who growled deeply within his throat over being called Fish Boy yet again.

Before Ripjaws could retort, Katara interrupted by saying, "You better hide for now, Ripjaws. We'll let you know when it's safe to come out." Ripjaws growled angrily under his breath as he ran back towards the pool.

"By the way, Toph, IT'S…RIPJAWS!" Ripjaws shouted angrily as he dove into the water.

Just moments after Ripjaws disappeared under the water's surface, a trio of Earth Kingdom civilians appeared from around the bend: a young man in his twenties, a very pregnant young woman, and a teenage girl.

The tanned young man had his black hair up in a topknot with long black bangs and a short black beard all along his chin, and he was wearing a Davy's gray sleeveless tunic with a high collar and gray and myrtle green trim, Davy's gray pants with gray and myrtle green trim, Davy's gray and myrtle green wristbands, a myrtle green sash tied around his waist, and sandals. In addition, the young man had a hunter green backpack with myrtle green straps slung over his back.

The pregnant pale-skinned woman had long black hair and brown eyes, and she was wearing a gray underskirt underneath a pale gray long-sleeve dress, a feldgrau sleeveless tunic with asparagus trim, an asparagus hat with a fern green hat band, and slippers.

The teenage girl had long black hair up in braided pigtails, brown eyes, and a pale complexion. She was wearing a forest green short-sleeve dress with tea green trim on the sleeves, a golden skirt wrap over her dress, a goldenrod wide sash tied around her waist, forest green wristbands, a tea green hat with a fern green hat brim, tan leggings, and raw umber boots.

"Hello there, fellow refugees!" the young man called out cheerfully as he waved to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. Sokka's expression quickly changed to a look of consternation as the three refugees approached their group.

"Hi," Aang greeted the three newcomers. "I'm Aang, and this is Katara, Sokka, and Toph."

"Very good to meet you. I am Than," the young man introduced himself as he rested a hand on the pregnant woman's left shoulder. "This is my wife, Ying, and this is Lian."

As Than gestured to the teenage girl, Lian's eyes rested on Aang in particular, focusing on the blue arrow tattoo on his bald head. "Isn't that an airbender tattoo on your head?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, it is," Aang confirmed.

"Then, you must be the Avatar!" Lian gasped out loud, causing Than and Ying to gasp out of surprise.

"It's true. Aang is the Avatar," Katara admitted proudly.

"It is such an honor to finally meet you, Avatar Aang," Than openly confessed as he, Ying, and Lian bowed respectively to Aang, who blushed slightly out of embarrassment.

"So…are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se, too?" Aang asked, trying to steer the conversation away from him.

"Sure are," Than confirmed. "We're trying to get there before my wife, Ying, has her baby."

As Than lovingly rubs his wife's large belly, Katara suggested, "Great, we can travel through the Serpent's Pass together." Upon hearing this, all three refugees gasped loudly, with looks of horror on their faces.

"The Serpent's Pass!" Ying exclaimed fearfully. "Only the truly desperate take that deadly route."

"Deadly route," Toph repeated as she punched Sokka's arm, causing him to drop down out of pain. "Great pick, Sokka!"

"Well, we are desperate," Sokka pointed out as he rubbed his sore arm gingerly.

Suddenly, the water behind them glowed briefly with an intense red light.

"Did you see that?" Than asked curiously as he pointed at the pool of water behind Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph.

"See what?" Katara asked as she, Aang, and Sokka turned around to see what Than was pointing at. Just then, Ben quickly came up to the water's surface, immediately taking in a deep gasp of air.

"Young man, are you all right?" Ying asked out of concern as Ben spat out a stream of water from his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ben replied as he swam back to the pool's edge. Lian quickly ran to the pool's edge to help Ben, unaware that Aang, Katara, and Sokka all had worried looks on their faces.

"Why were you in the water fully clothed, boy?" Than asked curiously as Lian helped Ben to his feet. "Did you fall in?"

"No, I just…uh…was…taking a bath!" Ben explained hastily. "And, umm…washing my clothes at the same time! Heh, heh!" Than, Ying, and Lian all looked at Ben with puzzled expressions on their faces, while Ben bore a big sheepish grin.

"Hmm…what a strange child…" Lian trailed off as she walked away from Ben and rejoined her traveling companions.

"Is he a friend of yours, Avatar Aang?" Ying asked curiously as she glanced over at Aang.

"Yeah, he is. That's Ben," Aang replied as Ben joined him, Katara, Sokka, and Toph.

"Hi," Ben greeted as he waved at Than, Ying, and Lian.

There was an awkward pause of silence before Than finally cleared his throat. "Anyway, you should come with us to Full Moon Bay. Ferries take refugees across the lake. It's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se."

"And it's hidden, so the Fire Nation can't find it," Ying added.

"Hmmm, peaceful ferry ride…or deadly pass?" Katara murmured sarcastically as she placed a hand on her chin as though she was in deep thought.

"Gee, that's a tough call," Ben remarked as Sokka sunk his head down…

Meanwhile, inside the gloomy cavernous inlet known as the Full Moon Ferry Landing, hundreds of refugees were gathered on a stone landing behind a harbor wall, where three large wooden ships were anchored. Standing against a wall near the stone landing were two Earth Kingdom guards in khaki-and-white uniforms standing at attention. One of the guards used his earthbending to bend down a section of the stone wall behind them, revealing a hidden tunnel. Within moments, Aang, Momo, Katara, Sokka, Ben, Than, Ying, and Lian emerged from the tunnel.

"Whoa…this is pretty bad…" Ben trailed off when he realized how many people were waiting on the ferries for Ba Sing Se.

"I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation," Katara gasped as her blue eyes focused on a woman feeding a crying child.

"We're all looking for a better life," Than stated. "Safe, behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." The seven new arrivals watched as the center vessel sailed out of the concealed inlet and onto the lake…

"Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace…" Iroh muttered solemnly as he stared out at the water from his position on the ship's deck.

"As a tourist?" Iroh continued as he put on a flowered straw hat and a wide grin as he turned to Zuko, who was standing next to him with a wooden bowl in his hands.

"Look around. We're not tourists, we're refugees," Zuko stated grimly before taking a sip from his bowl. "Ugh!" he groaned loudly out of disgust as he spat out the mouthful of gruel over the ship's railing. As Zuko wiped his mouth with his sleeve, Max joined Iroh and Zuko with his own bowl of gruel.

"I take it the food isn't that great, huh?" Max inquired as he sniffed at the contents of his bowl. "Trust me, Lee, I've had worse!"

Zuko groaned softly out of despair as he looked out at the water. "I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt…I'm tired of living like this," he complained as he leaned against the rail despondently.

"Aren't we all?" an unfamiliar young man's voice responded.

Iroh, Zuko, and Max looked up at the direction of the speaker, who was a teenage boy around Zuko's age that was accompanied by two other teenagers.

The boy who spoke had thick shaggy dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, a deep tan, and a long stalk of prairie grass hanging from his mouth, which bore a sly grin. He was wearing a long-sleeve navy blue shirt under a crimson red kimono vest with black trim, navy blue pants, black boots, cornflower blue gauntlets, a dark brown kusazuri over his left thigh, a cornflower blue kusazuri over his right thigh, a bronze shoulder plate on his left shoulder, a cornflower blue shoulder pad with a silver metal plate attached to it on his right shoulder, and cornflower blue leg wraps.

The teenager to his left had thick brown hair past the ears with straight bangs, dark eyes, and two streaks of burgundy face paint across either cheek. The clearly shorter teen was wearing a black high-collared long-sleeve shirt, black pants, dark brown knee-high boots, a navy blue headband, a crimson piece of cloth wrapped tightly around the left bicep, an auburn chest plate, and khaki gloves.

The third teenager had noticeably big ears, bushy black eyebrows, dark eyes, and short black hair. He was wearing a brown paddy-hat secured with a white chin strap, a navy blue high-collared shirt with ivory trim, a cardinal red tattered cape over his shoulders, navy blue pants, brown knee-high boots, and a dark brown quiver full of arrows and a bow slung over his back.

"My name's Jet," the first teenager introduced himself, "and these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot."

As he introduced his two companions, first gesturing to the shorter teen and then to the teen with the paddy-hat, Jet stepped towards the rail, with Smellerbee and Longshot right behind him.

"Hey," Smellerbee greeted as the three Freedom Fighters stopped walking, with Longshot silently nodding a greeting to Zuko, Iroh, and Max.

"Hello," Zuko replied solemnly as he looked back out at the water.

"Here's the deal. I hear the Captain's eating like a king, while us refugees have to feed off his scraps," Jet divulged as he stepped closer to the rail. "Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of 'king' is he eating like?" Iroh asked curiously.

"The fat, happy kind," Jet revealed, causing Iroh's jaw to drop open and drool excessively.

"Hmm…that's something that needs to be resolved," Max muttered thoughtfully as Jet looked over at Zuko.

"So, you want to help us 'liberate' some food‌?" Jet asked curiously as Zuko stared down into his bowl of gruel.

After a few moments had passed, Zuko chucked the bowl far over the rail before turning to face Jet. "I'm in," he stated…

Meanwhile, back at the Full Moon Ferry Landing, a cruel-looking thin Earth Kingdom woman with black hair, a green ornate hat, a dark green uniform, and gold rings on the middle and ring fingers of both of her hands, was standing at a podium, busily stamping papers.

"I've told you already, no vegetables on the ferry!" the pitiless bureaucrat addressed a familiar-looking elderly man with gray hair, sideburns, and a pointed goatee, who looked up at her with a desperate look in his eyes. He was wearing a green cap, a yellow long-sleeve shirt underneath a green kimono vest with dark green trim, yellow pants, a dark green sash, and brown boots.

"One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se. Security!" the bureaucrat screamed as she pointed at the wooden cabbage cart.

Within moments, a platypus bear dressed in a khaki vest and a khaki cap with a green brim came in and destroyed the cart, with three Earth Kingdom guards surrounding the bear so it didn't wander off.

"Dah! My cabbages!!" the cabbage merchant screamed in a horrified tone as he dropped down to his knees, clearly paralyzed in despair. Two guards picked up the cabbage merchant by his arms and carried him away past Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Ben.

"Yikes! These guys are really strict!" Ben commented.

"Next!" the bureaucrat announced as she stamped another paper on her podium.

"Um…five tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se, please," Aang requested hesitantly as he approached the podium.

"Passport," the bureaucrat stated.

"Uh, no one told us we had to have passports," Aang reluctantly admitted.

"Don't you know who this is?" Sokka asked matter-of-factly as he stepped forward. "He's the Avatar!"

"Ah, I see fifty Avatars a day, and by the way, not a very impressive costume," the bureaucrat stated, clearly unimpressed as she pointed over at a diverse group of young boys, all dressed in clothing similar to Aang's, including blue arrows painted on their shaved heads. Aang smiled a bit at the group of Avatar imposters and nodded in their direction as Momo jumped up on his shoulder.

"Besides, no animals allowed," the bureaucrat pointed out, adding with a threatening note, "Do I need to call security?"

Aang and Momo glanced over at the platypus bear as it chomped down on a cabbage. Momo cowered behind Aang's shoulder, clearly not wanting to meet the cabbage's fate.

"That won't be necessary," Aang replied as he held up his hands and backed away from the podium.

"Next!" the bureaucrat called out.

"Great! Now how are we supposed to get across?" Ben remarked in a sulking tone as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Relax, I'll take care of this," Toph declared quite confidently as she strode forward.

"Yeah, right!" Ben scoffed as Toph approached the bureaucrat at her podium.

"My name is Toph Bei Fong, and I'll need five tickets," Toph announced as she placed a document bearing a gleaming golden emblem in the shape of a boar with wings on top of the podium.

"Oh! The Golden Seal of the Flying Boar!" the bureaucrat gasped out of awe. "It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family."

As the bureaucrat bowed to Toph with a flourish, Toph responded arrogantly, "It IS your pleasure. As you can see, I am blind, and these four imbeciles are my valets." Toph gestured back to her four companions, who were all grinning quite foolishly in a group hug.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Ben muttered through his clenched teeth.

"Just play along, Ben!" Sokka muttered through his clenched teeth.

"But the animal…" the bureaucrat trailed off hesitantly.

"Is my Seeing-Eye Lemur," Toph replied as Momo hopped onto her shoulder.

"Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official, I guess it's worth five tickets," the bureaucrat reluctantly admitted as she rapidly stamped five papers.

"I don't believe this! She actually did it!" Ben gasped out of surprise.

"Thank you very much," Toph replied as she reached up and gathered the papers off of the podium. Once the tickets were in her hands, Toph walked off, soon followed by the others.

"Alright, we scammed that lady good!" Sokka snickered softly as he followed the others.

Suddenly, Sokka felt a hand on his shoulder that forcibly spun him around. He found himself facing an attractive young woman with short brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and bluish-gray eyes. She was dressed in an Earth Kingdom uniform consisting of a long-sleeve white shirt underneath an olive green tunic with short khaki sleeves, a dark brown belt, white pants, dark brown knee-high boots, olive green kusazuri with dark brown trim, long dark brown gloves with olive green gauntlets attached to them, and an olive green cap with a dark brown brim and chin strap and a khaki fan-shaped extension sticking out of the front of the cap. Ben glanced back over his shoulder and noticed the predicament that Sokka was in.

"Hey, guys! I think we're so busted!" Ben announced, causing Aang, Katara, and Toph to turn around and see for themselves the confrontation between Sokka and the strangely familiar female Earth Kingdom guard.

"Tickets and passports, please," the female guard stated firmly as she held out her hand.

"Is there a problem?‌" Sokka asked reluctantly, clearly intimidated by the female guard.

"Yeah, I've got a problem with you," the female guard retorted menacingly as she poked at Sokka's chest with her finger. "I've seen your type before: probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar."

"Do I know you‌?" Sokka asked as his eyes narrowed out of suspicion.

"You mean you don't remember?" the female guard asked as she yanked Sokka close to her by his collar. "Maybe you'll remember this."

Everyone was surprised when the female guard planted a gentle kiss on Sokka's left cheek. Sokka blushed a bit, his eyes widening and a big grin spreading on his face when he finally realized who was standing before him.

"Suki!!" Sokka exclaimed happily as he and Suki shared a heartfelt embrace.

"Sokka, it's good to see you!" Suki admitted with a delighted smile on her face…

"You look so different without your makeup, and the new outfit," Katara commented.

Suki had brought Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Ben up into a covered tower on the harbor wall that overlooked both the landing and the harbor to continue their little reunion in private.

"That crabby lady makes all the security guards wear them," Suki revealed. "And look at you, sleeveless guy. Been working out?" she asked coyly as she glanced over at Sokka approvingly.

"I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then, nothing major," Sokka revealed quite modestly as he casually stretched and flexed his arm, patting his bicep as Ben rolled his eyes at him.

"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?" Aang asked curiously.

"Yeah, after you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people," Suki confirmed. "We ended up escorting some refugees, and we've been here ever since."

As she looked out over the refugee camp, Momo jumped up next to her on the rail she was leaning on. "Hi, Momo. Good to see you, too," Suki greeted as she scratched the winged lemur's ear before looking up at Ben and Toph. "And who are they? New friends of yours?"

"Yeah, this is Ben and Toph," Aang introduced Ben and Toph. "We just met Ben a few days ago, and Toph's been teaching me earthbending. Ben, Toph, this is Suki. She's the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors."

"Hey, nice to meet you, Suki," Ben greeted as he waved his hand at Suki, who returned the greeting.

"Hey," Toph replied with a simple nod.

"So why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry?‌ Wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?‌" Suki asked curiously. Almost immediately, everyone looked down at the ground.

"Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se," Katara sadly revealed as she glanced over at Aang, who looked away from her.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Suki replied as she looked at Aang with concern in her eyes. "Are you doing okay‌?"

Aang was clearly becoming a bit annoyed with everyone now looking at him sympathetically. "I'm doing fine. Would everybody stop worrying about me!" he shouted angrily.

"Avatar Aang, you have to help us!" Ying's voice shouted from somewhere below. Aang and the others looked down over the rail at Ying, Than, and Lian gathered at the tower's base.

"Someone took all of our belongings. Our passports, our tickets. Everything's gone!" After she finished speaking, Ying finally broke down and cried, with Than attempting to comfort her.

"I'll talk to the lady for you," Aang called down to the three refugees…

"No passports, no tickets!!" the bureaucrat shouted with an unpleasant scowl on her face as she stamped an arrow on Aang's brow as he stood at the podium.

"But she's pregnant, and all of their stuff was stolen," Aang pleaded. "You have to make an exception."

"No exceptions!" the bureaucrat shouted. "If I just gave away tickets willy-nilly to anyone, there would be no more order, and you know what that means. No more civilization!"

"What if we gave them our tickets‌?" Aang suggested.

"No!" the bureaucrat denied loudly.

"But…" Aang started.

"NEXT!!" the bureaucrat screamed loudly, spraying her spit all over Aang's face. Straying well back from the podium, Aang walked back to Than, Ying, and Lian, who were patiently waiting for him.

"Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely. I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass," Aang reassured the three refugees…

"I can't believe we gave up our tickets, and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass," Sokka complained loudly as Aang led him, Katara, Toph, Ben, Than, Ying, and Lian through the refugee camp within the Full Moon Ferry Landing.

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it," Toph remarked dully.

"Yeah, suck it up, Sokka. We all have to go," Ben added.

"I'm coming, too," Suki called out as she caught up to the group, now dressed in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform and makeup.

Ben started to snicker softly when he got his first glimpse of Suki in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform, but he soon stopped when he noticed both Katara and Aang looking at him disapprovingly. "I'm sorry, guys, but she looks like a clown!"

"She's wearing the traditional Kyoshi Warrior uniform and makeup, Ben!" Katara whispered harshly. "Try and be a little more respectful!"

"Sorry," Ben whispered apologetically.

"Are you sure that's a good idea‌?" Sokka asked a bit cautiously.

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come‌?" Suki asked, clearly surprised by Sokka questioning her coming along with them.

"I do, it's just…" Sokka trailed off a bit hesitantly.

"Just what‌?" Suki stated, growing annoyed with Sokka.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're coming," Sokka replied solemnly as Suki walked past him angrily.

Sokka briefly looked down at the ground before following the others outside. It didn't take long for the group to locate the large wooden oriental archway that marked the beginning of the Serpent's Pass: a narrow sliver of land that rose straight and steep beyond the gatepost.

"This is the Serpent's Pass?" Sokka asked a bit skeptically as everyone gathered at the gatepost. "I thought it would be more…windy, you know, like a serpent. Hmm, I guess they misnamed it."

Ying approached the gatepost to read some characters carved into it. "Look at this writing, how awful," she gasped.

"What does it say?" Toph asked curiously as Katara stepped forward.

"It says, 'Abandon hope,' " Katara read aloud.

"How could we abandon hope?‌ It's all we have," Ying despondently exclaimed as she buried her face in her husband's chest.

"I don't know. The monks used to say that hope is just a distraction," Aang stated in an even tone. "So maybe we DO need to abandon it."

"What are you talking about?‌" Katara asked in disbelief.

"Hope isn't going to get us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not gonna find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass," Aang explained somberly as he stepped through the gate.

"Okay, if you say so," Katara muttered sadly as everyone started to follow Aang through the gateway and down the path. The path was so narrow along the numerous peaks and cliffs that the group of travelers was forced to walk single-file.

"The Fire Nation controls the western lake," Suki explained as a Fire Nation war vessel was seen cruising off in the distance. "Rumor has it they're working on something big on the other side, and they don't want anyone to find out what it is."

As they continued walking, everyone nervously watched the Fire Nation warship as it slowly patrolled the lake. Suddenly, the path under Than's feet gave way. He would have fallen to his death if Toph hadn't caught him with her earthbending. She then forced the rock protrusion she created to fling Than back up onto the path to rejoin his family.

"I'm okay," Than called out.

As the chunks of path that Than was once standing on hit the water with a loud splash, the passing warship launched a fiery projectile from its deck catapult.

"They've spotted us! Let's go, let's go!" Sokka shouted.

"I heard that!" Ben agreed without hesitation as he ran down the path with everyone else, while Aang leapt up and launched himself off of the face of the cliff towards the incoming giant fireball. Intercepting it in mid-air, Aang swung his staff at the fireball and sent it crashing into the warship's smokestacks.

As the ship became ablaze, it launched another fiery projectile from its second catapult, which crashed into the side of the cliff. As rocks from the impact began to tumble down towards the path, Sokka quickly shoved Suki forward. Reacting quickly, Toph turned around and used her earthbending to project out a stone canopy that diverted the rubble away from Sokka. Once he realized he was okay, Sokka ran forward and helped Suki up to her feet.

"Suki, are you okay‌? You have to be more careful!" Sokka pointed out as he led Suki right past Toph without a word to the young earthbender who saved his life. "C'mon!"

"Thanks for saving my life, Toph. Hey, no problem, Sokka," Toph muttered sarcastically as she eventually turned and raced after the others, with Aang kiting in behind on his glider and the Fire Nation warship fully ablaze…

As the sun started to disappear over the horizon, Aang and his friends were preparing to settle in for the night. As Than rubbed Ying's feet while she laid propped up, Suki began to spread out her bedroll.

"Suki, you shouldn't sleep there," Sokka spoke up as he walked up to Suki and took her bedroll. "Who knows how stable this ledge is? It could give way at any moment."

"Sokka, I'm fine. Stop worrying!" Suki called out as Sokka walked away from her and laid her bedroll next to his.

"You're right, you're right. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself…Wait!" Sokka exclaimed as he abruptly jumped up in between Suki and her bedroll. "Oh, never mind. I thought I saw a spider, but you're fine."

Sokka casually patted Suki on her shoulder reassuringly, while she stared with a humiliated look on her face…

Meanwhile, Aang was standing out on a dark ledge away from the camp, staring out across the lake. Katara walked towards the young Avatar and stopped just a few steps behind him.

"You know, it's okay to miss Appa," Katara spoke up. "What's going on with you‌? In the desert, all you cared about was finding Appa, and now it's like you don't care about him at all."

"You saw what I did out there," Aang stated calmly as Katara walked up beside him. "I was so angry about losing Appa, I couldn't control myself. I hated feeling like that."

"But now you're not letting yourself feel anything," Katara pointed out. "I know sometimes it hurts more to hope, and it hurts more to care. But you have to promise me that you won't stop caring. C'mon, you need a hug." She held out her arms to Aang, but instead of stepping forward to accept the hug, Aang politely bowed to Katara.

"Thank you for your concern, Katara," Aang whispered as he walked away, leaving Katara alone on the ledge looking after him with a worried look in her blue eyes.

As Aang returned to the campsite, he walked past a large boulder, where Ben was sitting. Once Aang walked past him, Ben slid off of the boulder and approached Katara.

"Hey, Katara, what's up with Aang?" Ben asked curiously. "He was so cheerful and fun before, but now he's so…so miserable."

"I'm sure it's because he misses Appa, but it's like he's given up already. It's not like Aang at all," Katara reluctantly admitted as she looked down at the ground.

"I guess being the Avatar can be a little stressful, huh?" Ben assumed, which Katara responded to with a slight nod. "Aang's got a lot on his shoulders, and he can't be that much older than me!"

"You'd be surprised, Ben!" Katara commented as a small smile appeared on her face.

As Katara walked away with her hand over her mouth, Ben turned around and called out, "Katara, wait! What do you mean by that?"

Ben ran past a stone arch as he followed Katara back to the campsite, not noticing Sokka sitting under the stone arch as he stared up at the moon.

"It's a beautiful moon," Suki commented softly as she quietly approached Sokka and stood next to him.

"Yeah, it really is," Sokka replied as Suki sat down next to him.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself," Suki pointed out.

"I know you can," Sokka whispered somberly.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective‌?" Suki prodded.

"It's so hard to lose someone you care about," Sokka revealed as he looked away from Suki. "Something happened at the North Pole, and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again."

"I lost someone I cared about," Suki admitted thoughtfully. "He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart, and brave, and funny." As Suki described the person she lost, a worried look came across Sokka's face.

"Who is this guy?‌ Is he taller than me?" he inquired huffily as he rose to his feet.

"No, he's about your height," Suki replied coyly.

"Is he better looking‌?" Sokka demanded.

"It IS you, stupid!" Suki exclaimed loudly.

"Oh…" Sokka trailed off as he looked at Suki longingly. They drew in close to kiss with their eyes closed. Just before their lips could meet, Sokka abruptly looked away with a pained expression in his blue eyes.

"I can't," Sokka whispered.

"I'm…sorry," Suki apologized.

"No, you shouldn't be," Sokka stated as he turned away and left Suki standing alone beneath the stone arch…

Meanwhile, back on the ferry's main deck, Jet was busy passing out the food that he, Zuko, Smellerbee, and Longshot pilfered from the galley. As Jet continued to hand out food to the grateful refugees, Zuko, Iroh, Max, Smellerbee, and Longshot were gathered together, eating their own meal.

"So, Smellerbee, that's an unusual name for a young man," Iroh commented.

Max quickly leaned over towards Iroh and whispered, "Umm, Moshi? That's not a…"

Before Max could finish, Smellerbee remarked in an irritated tone, "Maybe it's because I'm not a man. I'm a girl!" She shot Iroh a dirty look as she stood up and walked away.

"Oh, now I see!" Iroh called out after Smellerbee. "It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!"

Longshot immediately got up and followed Smellerbee, soon catching up to her. As he placed a hand on Smellerbee's shoulder, Longshot stepped in front of her and gave her a hard look with his big dark eyes.

"I know. You're right," Smellerbee replied apologetically. "As long as I'm confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think. Thanks, Longshot."

In response, Longshot nodded a stern approval. Meanwhile, Jet had just finished rationing out the food and sat down with Zuko, Iroh, and Max.

"From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se," Jet revealed enthusiastically. "I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."

"It is a magnificent sight," Iroh admitted.

"So you've been there before‌, Moshi?" Max inquired curiously.

"Once…when I was a different man," Iroh replied solemnly as he looked away.

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of," Jet reluctantly confessed as he glanced around the main deck at the other refugees. "But that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning. A second chance."

"That's very noble of you," Iroh agreed with a slight nod. "I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances."

As he finished speaking, Iroh shared a meaningful glance with Zuko, which was not overlooked by either Jet or Max…

"Hey, Ben?" Aang whispered to Ben, who was walking alongside him. It was early in the morning, and the group had continued their journey along the treacherous Serpent's Pass, with Aang leading the way.

"What's up, Aang?" Ben asked curiously.

"I know I didn't get a chance to ask you before, but…will you promise me not to use the Omnitrix?" Aang requested.

"Huh? Why not?" Ben whispered, clearly surprised by Aang's request.

"Look, we understand why you can do this, but if others see you as one of those aliens, they might get scared or attack you," Aang whispered with concern in his voice as he briefly glanced back over his shoulder at Than, Ying, and Lian. "And we don't wanna scare away Than and his family."

"Yeah, I get that, Aang," Ben replied with a slight nod. "That's why I hid in the water when I was Ripjaws."

"So, promise me, Ben, that you won't use the Omnitrix unless we really need your help, okay?" Aang whispered as he looked back at Ben.

"Umm…sure, Aang. I can do that," Ben replied with slight reluctance in his voice.

Aang smiled slightly with an approving nod as he returned his attention to the path, only to come across an unexpected obstacle. Everyone came to a stop at the edge of the water, where the path they were on abruptly dropped off into the lake, disappearing underwater before resurfacing several hundred yards away from them.

"You have gotta be kidding me!" Ben exclaimed loudly as Katara stepped forward determinedly.

"Everyone, single file," Katara announced as she strolled up to the water's edge and began bending the water away from her.

Everyone watched astoundingly as Katara stepped down below water level, lifting up walls of water to either side of the trail. As the others began to follow her, a capsule of air formed around them.

"Aang, I need help," Katara requested. With a smile, Aang handed his staff over to Toph and began bending the water as well.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Ben whispered with awe as he looked around at the walls of water, which reminded him of being in one of those glass underwater tunnels in an aquarium.

Than, Ying, and Lian also stared around in amazement as the group traveled underneath the passing waves. Momo's interest was soon peaked by a school of fish swimming closely by one of the water-walls. Without hesitation, the winged lemur leaped from his perch on Toph's shoulder and jumped through the water-wall. Sokka and Suki turned around in time to witness Momo swimming in hot pursuit of the school of fish.

Suddenly, an enormous black form passed near Momo, causing him to jump back into the air bubble onto Toph's shoulder, soaking wet and shivering with fright. The others soon noticed the large unknown mass as it passed over the capsule of air.

"What is that thing?" Katara wondered aloud.

As Ying and her family huddled together in fear, something huge crashed through the walls of the large air bubble, causing Katara to lose her concentration. As the capsule started to rapidly fill up with water, Toph quickly used her earthbending to bring them back up to the surface on a column of rock.

Just as Toph handed Aang his staff back, Ben shouted while pointing at the water, "Look!"

Everyone looked at the water and saw what Ben was pointing at: a long spiny dorsal fin circling around them like a shark. Dreadfully, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Ben, Suki, Than, Ying, Lian, and Momo watched as the head of a colossal jade sea serpent burst through the surface of the lake. Its whiskered head resembled that of a seahorse, with a long whip-like tongue lashing out from its maw.

"I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass," Sokka replied meekly as he pointed up at the sea serpent as it let out a deafening roar, rearing back its long neck in an attempt to intimidate those below it.

As the sea serpent released a shrill scream of pure rage, Sokka glanced over at Suki and exclaimed, "Suki, you know about giant sea monsters. Make it go away!"

"Just because I live near the Unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert!" Suki pointed out angrily.

"How about you, Shrimpy? You turn into monsters!" Toph whispered as she leaned towards Ben slightly.

"I never turned into something THAT big!" Ben remarked as he pointed up at the sea serpent.

"O great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering," Sokka pleaded as he held up Momo as an offering to the creature. "Thank you."

"Sokka!" Katara cried out, outraged over her brother's behavior.

Just then, the sea serpent lunged at the group, but Aang quickly swept an arch of wind directly at its head, pushing it back.

"I'll distract him. Katara, get everyone across," Aang instructed as he opened up his glider and swooped off as the sea serpent recovered from the blow and snaked off after him.

Katara began to cast a path composed of ice across the surface of the lake, running forward so she could connect it to the shore in the distance. Gesturing for the others to go on, Katara watched Aang as he eluded the sea serpent a good distance away from her. Katara hopped onto the water, encased an ice pontoon around her feet, and thrust herself towards the ongoing fight. As Aang flew past Katara with the sea serpent right on his heels, she began to freeze massive amounts of ice around the monster's midsection. Unfortunately, the sea serpent broke free with a twist of its body, turning around to pursue Katara.

Meanwhile, Sokka had just reached the shore with the others, with Ben close behind him.

"Yah!" Ben cried out as he slipped on the ice due to his sneakers, landing on his butt. As Sokka turned around to help Ben back up to his feet, he noticed that Toph was still marooned on top of the rock pillar.

"Toph, come on. It's just ice," Sokka called out.

"Move it, Toph!" Ben shouted.

Toph gingerly placed her bare foot on the ice, but quickly shrunk back. "Actually, I'm gonna stay on my little island where I can see," she yelled out to the others onshore.

All of a sudden, a giant coil of the sea serpent's body crashed down behind Toph, forcing her out onto the icy path with a frightened yelp.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Toph called out as she began inching her way sideways across the span of ice.

"You're doing great!" Sokka shouted encouragingly. "Just follow the sound of my voice!"

"It's hard to ignore," Toph murmured under her breath tartly.

"You're almost there," Sokka called out.

Suddenly, the sea serpent's tail crashed through the ice bridge, shattering it completely and propelling Toph into the water.

"Toph!" Ben shouted as Toph thrashed about helplessly in the water.

"Help! I can't swim!" Toph screamed.

"I'm coming, Toph!" Sokka shouted as he struggled to pull off his boot.

To Sokka's surprise, Suki ran right past him and dove into the water without hesitation. Sokka stood in amazement as he watched the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors swim furiously towards Toph as the young earthbender slipped beneath the waves. Once she reached the spot where Toph disappeared, Suki dove down and brought Toph back to the surface, gasping for air.

"Oh, Sokka! You saved me!" Toph exclaimed overdramatically as she planted a big kiss on Suki's cheek.

"Actually, it's me," Suki replied.

"Oh…well…heheh…" Toph replied meekly, clearly embarrassed over her mistake. "You can go ahead and let me drown now."

As Suki led Toph back to the shore, Aang and Katara were busy circling around the sea serpent at incredible speeds, stirring up a formidable whirlpool that imprisoned it. The trapped monster's neck crashed against the side of the cliff like a whip before it disappeared into the depths of the lake. Sokka, Toph, Ben, Suki, Than, Ying, and Lian cheered loudly as Aang flew by with Katara as they headed up a rise…

"Can we PLEASE stop for a minute?" Ben whined as he and the other weary travelers climbed down yet another rise of the Serpent's Pass.

Sokka was about to say something when he spotted something in the distance. "There's the wall!" he exclaimed as he pointed excitedly at the large sand-colored wall that filled up the horizon. "Now it's nothing but smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se."

"Oh no!" Ying gasped as she doubled over in pain, clutching at her large belly.

"Ying, are you okay?" Lian asked concernedly as she and Than gathered around Ying.

"What's wrong‌?" Sokka prodded a bit hesitantly.

"The baby's coming!" Ying revealed as Than and Lian gently eased her down to the ground.

"What!‌ Now!‌ Can't you hold it in or something‌?" Sokka exclaimed with panic rising in his voice.

"Aw, man! What do we do? What do we do?" Ben exclaimed in a fast-paced tone.

"Sokka, Ben, calm down," Katara replied reassuringly. "I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home."

"This isn't the same as delivering an arctic seal! This is a real…human…thing!" Sokka practically screamed in an unnerved high-pitched voice.

"It's called a baby, and I helped to deliver plenty of those, too," Katara stated calmly as she turned to address Aang and Ben. "Aang, Ben, get some rags. Sokka, water."

As Aang, Ben, and Sokka ran off to do their assigned tasks, Katara turned to Toph and requested, "Toph, I need you to make an earth tent. A big one." Toph nodded as she created a tent composed of large stone slabs around the three refugees.

"Suki, come with me," Katara requested as she and Suki both entered the tent…

"You're doing great, Ying," Katara replied supportively, who was sitting between Ying's blanket-covered legs with her back to the entrance of the stone tent. Ying was gasping heavily for breath and sweating profusely as Than and Lian held each of her hands.

Katara briefly glanced back over her shoulder at the entrance and called out, "Sokka! Where's that water?"

Returning her attention to the task at hand, Katara instructed, "Get ready to push."

Unknown to the tent's occupants, Sokka walked in right behind Katara as she started to count.

"One, two, three…PUSH!"

As Ying cried out painfully in her effort to deliver her baby, Sokka, who was watching over Katara's back, slumped unconsciously to the ground over what he just witnessed…

"It's a girl!" Katara announced from inside the stone tent.

Aang, Toph, Ben, and Sokka were waiting outside the tent, giving Ying her privacy as she was giving birth. Aang was huddled miserably to one side of the tent's entrance, with Ben sitting next to him and Momo in a tree overhead. Toph was leaning against the tent's wall on the opposite side of the entrance, while Sokka sat next to her, mopping his face with a cloth.

"So, you want to go see the baby…or are you going to faint like an old lady again‌?" Toph asked sarcastically as she leaned over to Sokka.

"That was pretty funny!" Ben remarked as he snickered a bit.

"No, no, I'm good this time," Sokka replied as he stood up and followed Toph into the tent.

Just moments later, Katara emerged from the entrance. "Aang, Ben, you have to come see this," she suggested as she disappeared back into the tent.

"Come on, Aang! Stop being so mopey and let's check it out," Ben replied as he got up and tugged on Aang's arm, pulling him up on his feet.

Aang sighed deeply as he reluctantly walked to the tent's entrance, raised his head, and looked inside, along with Ben. Inside, everyone was gathered around Ying, who was sitting propped against a rolled up sleeping bag. Their attention was focused on the small bundle cradled in Ying's arms.

"She sounds healthy," Toph commented.

"She's beautiful," Katara whispered in awe.

"It's so…squishy-looking," Sokka replied uncertainly.

"Squishy-looking?" Ben repeated under his breath in disbelief. "Never heard anyone describe a baby like that before!"

Ben glanced over at Aang and was both surprised and relieved to see Aang's miserable expression melt into a bittersweet smile as he gazed at the sleeping newborn.

"What should we name her‌?" Than wondered aloud, who was kneeling next to his wife as they both serenely watched their sleeping daughter.

Ying briefly turned to Than and replied, "I want our daughter's name to be unique. I want it to mean something."

As Ying looked down at her baby, Aang wiped away the tears that were running down his cheeks with his sleeve before he finally walked further into the stone enclosure, stopping when he reached the middle of the tent.

"I've been going through a really hard time lately. But you've made me…hopeful again," Aang whispered softly.

"I know what I want to name our baby now. Hope," Ying admitted.

"That's a perfect name. Hope," Than agreed…

"I thought I was trying to be strong, but really I was just running away from my feelings," Aang replied thoughtfully. Everyone was now outside of the stone tent, with Aang and Katara standing away from the others underneath a tree.

"Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it reminded me of how I feel about Appa…and how I feel about you," Aang continued as Katara wiped away a streaming tear from her eye.

The two stepped towards each other and embraced lovingly as tears welled up in Katara's closed eyes. As Suki, Ben, Sokka, and Toph approached them, Katara and Aang separated from each other, with Katara taking a moment to straighten Aang's collar before backing away from him.

"I promise I'll find Appa as fast as I can. I just really need to do this," Aang announced to his friends as Toph handed him his staff.

"See ya in the big city," Sokka replied.

"Say hi to that big fuzzball for me!" Toph remarked loud as she whacked Aang in the arm, causing him to wince slightly and rub his arm painfully.

"And don't forget to show me Appa, too!" Ben added, which Aang nodded slightly in response.

"You'll find him, Aang," Katara replied gently.

"I know. Thank you, Katara," Aang agreed in a soft tone as he snapped open his glider. As the young Avatar prepared for takeoff, Momo stood next to Aang and spread his wings as well, while Toph, Sokka, Ben, Katara, and Suki all stepped back a few paces.

"You ready, Momo‌?" Aang asked curiously as he glanced over at his pet winged lemur, who chattered a bit in response.

Aang and Momo both crouched down before hurling themselves into the sky. Everyone waved goodbye to them as Aang and Momo soared over the barren sands leading toward the far-off walls of Ba Sing Se.

As Sokka knelt down over his pack, Suki approached him and announced, "Sokka, It's been really great to see you again."

"Whoa, hold on. Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye‌?" Sokka asked curiously as he quickly stood up.

"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely," Suki explained as she gestured back towards the Serpent's Pass. "But now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors."

"So, you came along to protect ME?" Sokka realized, completely stunned that Suki would do this for him.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about last night," Suki stammered a bit hesitantly, blushing through her makeup as she closed her eyes. "We were talking, and saying things, I just got carried away and before I knew it I…"

Before Suki could finish what she was saying, Sokka surprised her with a tender kiss. As he drew back briefly, Sokka gazed into Suki's bluish-gray eyes and whispered, "You talk too much."

As Sokka and Suki began to kiss each other passionately, with Suki slipping her arms around Sokka's neck, Ben couldn't help but silently retch over the loving scene. Katara soon caught what Ben was doing out of the corner of her eye and quickly nudged him with her elbow…

Meanwhile, Aang and Momo were swooping over the open desert leading to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se in the distance. Once they reached the base of the wall, Aang and Momo soared up the outer wall's vertical face. Reaching the wall's summit, the young Avatar and his pet winged lemur both performed a backwards loop before gliding in for a landing. As Momo landed on his shoulder, Aang took a moment to look out over the wall.

Aang suddenly gasped as a look of shock and dismay played over his face. He could make out a formation of vehicles in the distance heading towards the outer wall, kicking up a large dust cloud in the process. Aang recognized the numerous Fire Nation tanks that he had encountered at the Northern Air Temple, but he didn't recognize the massive black Drill they were flanking on either side, which made the tanks look tiny in comparison.

"Sorry, Momo. Appa's gonna have to wait," Aang whispered sadly as he looked over to his lemur…

--

**DC:** I do apologize if this chapter is a bit on the bland side, but I promise you there'll be more action from Ben and the rest of the Tennysons in future chapters. You're probably curious about the word, "esca," which I used to describe Ripjaws. An esca is a fleshy appendage used as a lure to attract fish for food. This part actually exists on a real-life fish called an anglerfish, which lives in the deep, dark ocean. I think whoever designed Ripjaws must have got inspiration from the anglerfish because that particular fish has a lot of similar features with Ripjaws, besides the esca. Also, I named the teenage girl that was traveling with Than and Ying. I don't know her real name, if she even has one. Since she never had a speaking role in "The Serpent's Pass" or "The Drill," I guess the show decided it wasn't necessary to give her a name. I had to name her since I planned to give her a few lines. And one more thing, for those who aren't familiar with the word "kusazuri," which I used to describe both Jet's outfit and Suki's new uniform. Kusazuri is an armored skirt or apron that protects the upper thighs of a warrior, traditionally a samurai.


End file.
